Big Ten commissioner won't have power to fire coaches

July 20, 2012|Sports Xchange

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. (Tribune photo)

To clarify a Thursday report regarding the increased powers that might be given to the Big Ten commissioner, the conference issued a statement on Friday saying commissioner Jim Delany won't be given the authority to fire coaches.

The Big Ten statement, issued to ESPN.com, said that "giving emergency powers to the commissioner to fire personnel is not under consideration" by the conference's 12 school presidents and chancellors.

The Chronicle of Higher Education had reported that the Big Ten was considering giving its commissioner - which is Delany -- the power to punish schools with financial sanctions, suspensions and the ability to fire coaches in the aftermath of the Penn State scandal involving football coach Joe Paterno and high-ranking university officials.

The Chronicle obtained a plan titled "Standards and Procedures for Safeguarding Institutional Control of Intercollegiate Athletics" that proposed giving Delany authority to "take any and all actions" in the best interest of the Big Ten.

The Big Ten statement, in its entirety, read:

"There have been several reports, stemming from an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, that reference certain emergency powers described in a draft document entitled Standards and Procedures For Safeguarding Institutional Control of Intercollegiate Athletics that has been under review by the Big Ten's Council of Presidents and Chancellors. The draft obtained by the Chronicle was an early draft put together by the Big Ten staff in order to surface all of the options available. The option of giving emergency powers to the Commissioner to fire personnel is not under consideration by the Presidents and Chancellors."

Although the idea of granting Delany emergency powers to participate in personnel decisions was discussed by presidents and chancellors, they made no decisions about it.